Manchester United fell to their fourth defeat of the Premier League season as Aston Villa got off to a dream start under new manager Unai Emery with an impressive 3-1 win over Erik ten Hag's side on Sunday.
Villa had beaten Brentford 4-0 in their last home match after the sacking of Steven Gerrard, but were thrashed by the same scoreline away at Newcastle last weekend.
Against Manchester United, Emery's arrival clearly gave the team a lift and goals from Leon Bailey and Lucas Digne saw the home side fly into a 2-0 lead inside 11 minutes at Villa Park.
Cristiano Ronaldo was captaining United in the absence of Harry Maguire and Bruno Fernandes, but the visitors struggled to match Villa's intensity in the first half an hour.
What a performance. What a result.UP THE VILLA! 😍 #AVLMUN pic.twitter.com/LQgRJtFhDPNovember 6, 2022
United did improve towards the end of the first half, though, and pulled a goal back right at the end of the opening period through Luke Shaw.
The timing of that strike looked like a psychological blow for the home side, but Villa came out strongly again in the second half and restored their two-goal advantage through Jacob Ramsey four minutes after the restart and completed a deserved win in front of their fans.
It is only Villa's fourth league victory of the season but lifts them to 13th place in the table.
United, meanwhile, missed the chance to draw level with Tottenham in fourth and stay in fifth spot after their first loss since the 6-3 defeat to Manchester City in early October.
‘I received offers from Bolton and Newcastle, but they didn’t progress far. Then Leeds came in – I saw it as a chance to experience a new league and country’: How World Cup winner Roque Junior ended up at Leeds United
‘I don’t think Liverpool would look at Ollie Watkins, a striker isn’t a pressing issue for them – it’s Arsenal who need one’ Former Reds star explains why his old club don’t need an out-and-out forward this summer
